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Yatzy Probability

Blogs > Ximeng
Post a Reply
Ximeng
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
China57 Posts
July 27 2012 03:46 GMT
#1
I was debating with a friend the optimal play for this situation:

You are going for a large straight (5 dice in sequence) you have 3 rolls. You may keep any dice between rolls.

Your first roll comes up as a 5 3 3 2 1.

With 2 rolls left is it better to:
a) roll the extra 3 and try to change it to a 4 to complete a sequence of 5 to 1
b) roll the extra 3 and the 1 to try to complete a sequence of 6 to 2 or 5 to 1

What is the probability of success in each case?

The answer is actually quite surprising.

*****
I'm not Chinese but it would be okay if I were
Jumbled
Profile Joined September 2010
1543 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-27 08:19:31
July 27 2012 04:03 GMT
#2
You've got a probability of success of slightly over 30% in the first case and slightly over 35% in the second. In other words, the option with more outcomes is a bit better but not hugely so, which is about what I would expect.

Edit: On second thoughts, there's some double counting in that 35% figure. It's actually going to be less than that.

Yup, without the double-counting it comes to 27.777...%
ghrur
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States3786 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-27 04:27:30
July 27 2012 04:11 GMT
#3
Nvm. Read that wrong. 2 rolls left. Derp Dx
darkness overpowering
Iranon
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States983 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-27 07:31:21
July 27 2012 04:14 GMT
#4
Rolling a single die and getting a 4: 1/6 = 16.67%
Chance of this with 2 shots it: (1/6)+(5/6)(1/6) = 30.56%

Rolling two dice and getting either (4,6), (6,4), (1,4), or (4,1): 4/36 = 11.11%
Chance of this with 2 shots at it: (4/36)+(32/36)(4/36) = 13.58%


Edit: blah, my second case is wrong, you should also factor in the chance that you get either a 1/4/6 on the first try and the other number you need on the second try. Going to sleep instead of writing it out.

Edit 2: Can't sleep, might as well fix this. We're rolling up to 2 dice up to 2 times, trying for either a 4 and a 6 or a 4 and a 1:
On your first roll, you should keep anything with one of those three numbers, or
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 24, 26, 31, 34, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 54, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66

In four of those twenty-seven possibilities (14, 41, 46, 64), you're done.
In 7 of the others (24, 34, 42, 43, 44, 45, 54) you have a 4 and a useless number -- on your next roll you need a 1 or a 6 (1/3).
In the other sixteen, you have a 1 or a 6 and a useless number -- on your next roll you need a 4 (1/6).

If you don't roll any of those twenty-seven, then on your second roll you need to hit 14, 41, 46, or 64 (4/36).

So overall, the probability for the second option is (4/36)+(7/36)(1/3)+(16/36)(1/6) + (9/36)(4/36) = 27.78%

This is less than, but surprisingly close to, the probability of doing the first option.
n.DieJokes
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States3443 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-27 04:46:53
July 27 2012 04:19 GMT
#5
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"
MyLove + Your Love= Supa Love
Jumbled
Profile Joined September 2010
1543 Posts
July 27 2012 04:57 GMT
#6
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.
n.DieJokes
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States3443 Posts
July 27 2012 05:08 GMT
#7
On July 27 2012 13:57 Jumbled wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.

How do you figure?
MyLove + Your Love= Supa Love
RAGEMOAR The Pope
Profile Joined February 2011
United States216 Posts
July 27 2012 05:14 GMT
#8
On July 27 2012 14:08 n.DieJokes wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 27 2012 13:57 Jumbled wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.

How do you figure?



For #1

1/6 chance that you win THEN
5/6 chance that 1/6 win

11/36 chance.
n.DieJokes
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States3443 Posts
July 27 2012 05:15 GMT
#9
On July 27 2012 14:14 RAGEMOAR The Pope wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 27 2012 14:08 n.DieJokes wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:57 Jumbled wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.

How do you figure?



For #1

1/6 chance that you win THEN
5/6 chance that 1/6 win

11/36 chance.

Ah true, whoopsies
MyLove + Your Love= Supa Love
RAGEMOAR The Pope
Profile Joined February 2011
United States216 Posts
July 27 2012 05:17 GMT
#10
On July 27 2012 14:15 n.DieJokes wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 27 2012 14:14 RAGEMOAR The Pope wrote:
On July 27 2012 14:08 n.DieJokes wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:57 Jumbled wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.

How do you figure?



For #1

1/6 chance that you win THEN
5/6 chance that 1/6 win

11/36 chance.

Ah true, whoopsies


Same applies to your second case, except much, much more wrong.
n.DieJokes
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States3443 Posts
July 27 2012 05:19 GMT
#11
On July 27 2012 14:17 RAGEMOAR The Pope wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 27 2012 14:15 n.DieJokes wrote:
On July 27 2012 14:14 RAGEMOAR The Pope wrote:
On July 27 2012 14:08 n.DieJokes wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:57 Jumbled wrote:
On July 27 2012 13:19 n.DieJokes wrote:
+ Show Spoiler [solution] +
For one die, its 1/6 +1/6. So 1/3 chance.

The other one is trickier:
Both win: 2*(1/3)(1/3) * (36/36) because there are two ways
One win one lose: 2*(2/3)(1/3)*(1/6)
Both lose: (2/3)(2/3)*(2/36)*2

Add em all up!
.37 and some change for option two, Thus its better

Edit: For more fun probability problems theres a super cheap dover book called like "50 interesting problems in probability with solutions"

You may want to redo that, your numbers are incorrect.

How do you figure?



For #1

1/6 chance that you win THEN
5/6 chance that 1/6 win

11/36 chance.

Ah true, whoopsies


Same applies to your second case, except much, much more wrong.

Oh well
MyLove + Your Love= Supa Love
Gnaix
Profile Joined February 2009
United States438 Posts
July 27 2012 06:53 GMT
#12
You can win in the second case by the following:

On your first roll you roll either (6, 4), (4, 6), (4, 1), (1, 4), in which case you don't need to roll the second time.
Probability: 4/36

On your first roll, one of your die rolls a 6 and the other rolls not a 4, in which case you keep the 6 die and you roll the other die a second time for a 4. There are 4*2+1 ways, since 6 paired with any other number can happen 2 ways but only 1 way with itself.
Probability: (4*2+1)/36*1/6

On your first roll, one of your die rolls a 1 and the other rolls not a 4, in which case you keep the 1 die and you roll the other die a second time for a 4. There are 4*2+1 ways.
Probability: (4*2+1)/36*1/6

On your first roll, one of your die rolls a 4 and other other rolls not a 6 or 2, in which case you keep the 4 die and roll the other die a second time for a 2 or 6. There are 3*2+1 ways.
Probability: (3*2+1)/36*1/3

On your first roll, you don't get any of the above, therefore you need to get (6,4) (4,6) (4,1) (1,4) on your second roll. There are 3*3 ways.
Probability: (3*3)/36*4/36

Total probability is the sum of the probabilities above which is around 0.29
one thing that sc2 has over bw is the fact that I can actually manage my hotkeys
Iranon
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States983 Posts
July 27 2012 07:33 GMT
#13
Gnaix, you're counting your first roll being a one and a six twice.
endy
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Switzerland8970 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-27 11:23:01
July 27 2012 11:22 GMT
#14
nvm recalculting
ॐ
Helge
Profile Joined August 2011
Ukraine4 Posts
July 27 2012 15:19 GMT
#15
1) Chance to lose is equal to NOT getting 4 on two tries, that's (5/6)*(5/6)=25/36. Chance to win is therefore 1-(25/36)=11/36 approx. 30,6%

2) A bit more complicated calculation. On your first try, out of 6*6=36 possible rolls, you can either make:
- perfect rolls = instant win. You need to roll either (1,4) or (6,4) or (4,1) or (4,6). The chance is 4/36 = 1/9.
- good rolls = have 4 but not a perfect one. 7 possible rolls: (4,2),(4,3),(4,5),(4,4),(2,4),(3,4),(5,4). The chance is 7/36
- awful rolls = no 1,4 or 6 on any dices. There are 3*3=9 such rolls. The chance is 9/36 = 1/4.
- questionable rolls - have 1 or 6 but no 4. All rolls that remains, so there are 36-4-7-9=16 of them. The chance is 16/36=4/9.

Your second try depends on your first try:
- perfect roll - you already won, the overall chance is 1/9, or approx. 11,1%
- good roll. Keeping 4 let's you win in 2 out of 6 rolls (1 or 6), which is much better that rolling 2 dices again. So the overall chance is (7/36)*(2/6) = approx. 6,5%
- awfull roll. Need to roll perfect second time, so the chance is = (1/4)*(1/9)= approx. 2,8%
- questionable roll, you can either keep 1 dice (1 or 6) or reroll both of them. In the first case your chances are 1/6 (roll 4 on 1 dice), or 1/9 (a perfect roll as described above). So naturally you'll want to roll 1 dice. So yout overall chance is (4/9)*(1/6)= approx. 7,4%

Total chance is 11,1%+6,5%+2,8%+7,4% = 27,8% (rounding errors are about 0.1%).

So the first strategy is better.
KillerDucky
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States498 Posts
July 27 2012 19:37 GMT
#16
Well this bypasses the exercise of calculating probabilities on your own, but there is an awesome Yahtzee calculator:
http://www-set.win.tue.nl/~wstomv/misc/yahtzee/osyp.php

For this situation, you can put a 0 in for everything except the Large Straight to force it to consider that option. Give it 53321 as roll #1, and it says:

#1 Keep 53_21, roll 3 = EV 12.22
#2 Keep 53_2_, roll 3,1 = EV 11.11

Since you're going to succeed and get 40 points, or fail and get 0 points, you can calculate probability for success:
#1 12.11/40 = 30.275%
#2 11.11/40 = 27.775%


MarineKingPrime Forever!
32
Profile Joined February 2010
United States163 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-28 09:48:15
July 27 2012 19:44 GMT
#17
I was bored so I printed out all the possibilities.
http://pastebin.com/mXCjB1Uq
I might be doing it wrong but I don't think so. The entries with a + sign are added to the total probability, and I do keep track of the probability of the roll when I add it to the total. I ended up with 25.3086419753%, I think python has negligible rounding errors though. Only rolling the second 3 again obviously gives you a 2/3 chance of completing the straight as other people have said (edit: I actually thought about it and now I think rolling two times for a four gives you a 1/6 + (5/6*1/6) probability or a 0.3055 repeating chance. Happily I factored this into the program before I made this mistake, so hopefully nothing else needs to be changed.), so I think it is better, without even considering the difference in probability between getting a large straight and a small one. Here's the code.
http://pastebin.com/KxTA83f9
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